Ricochet of AK bullets (7.62 MM X 39 MM) on glazed ceramic tiles: An empirical study in support of shooting incident reconstructions

Abstract

Indoor environments provide numerous hard surfaces and nearby objects which facilitate the shots fired to ricochet off and hit victims. Out of many surface types, ceramic tile surfaces are considered to be one of the most commonly available and encountered surface type in indoor shootings. However, no studies had attempted to understand the ricochet behaviour and surface evidence of ceramic tiles with any bullet type. This study explores the ricochet behaviour of one of the most commonly reported bullet type in recent shooting incidents; AK bullets (7.62 mm × 39 mm/ M43) on two glazed ceramic tile samples used for indoor walls and flooring. The study’s results present the critical angles of glazed ceramic floor and wall tile samples along with a few significant and currently not reported ricochet-surface mark characteristics with greater forensic significance for use in AK gun-related ricochet investigations. This study further emphasises the need for case-by-case empirical approaches to understanding the ricochet behaviour of different bullet-target combinations during ricochet investigations. The study also opens up a new research area to explore whether the observed results are common to steel core AK bullets or common to other ammunition types and tile surfaces with different compositions.